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Revision as of 19:59, 9 February 2007
Messier 99 (also known as NGC 4254 or M99 for short, nicknamed Coma Pinwheel Galaxy) is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 60 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on the March 17 1781.
The galaxy has a normal looking arm and an extended arm that is less tightly wound. A bridge of neutral hydrogen gas links NGC 4254 with VIRGOHI21. The gravity from the dark galaxy VIRGOHI21 appears to have distorted M99 and drawn out the gas bridge, as the two galaxy-sized objects have a close encounter, before they go their separate ways. It is expected that the drawn out arm will relax to match the normal arm once the encounter is over. Three supernovae have been observed in this galaxy.
See also
- Messier 83 - a similar face-on spiral galaxy
- Pinwheel Galaxy - a similar face-on spiral galaxy
External links
- SEDS: Spiral Galaxy M99
- UniverseToday: Dark Matter Galaxy?
- PPARC: New evidence for a Dark Matter Galaxy
- WIKISKY.ORG: SDSS image, M99
References
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